Perimeter matrix ball grid array circuit package with a populated center

ABSTRACT

A ball grid array (BGA) integrated circuit package which has an outer two-dimensional array of solder balls and a center two-dimensional array of solder balls located on a bottom surface of a package substrate. The solder balls are typically reflowed to mount the package to a printed circuit board. Mounted to an opposite surface of the substrate is an integrated circuit that is electrically coupled to the solder balls by internal routing within the package. The outer array of solder balls are located the dimensional profile of the integrated circuit to reduce solder stresses induced by the differential thermal expansion between the integrated circuit and the substrate. The center solder balls are typically routed directly to ground and power pads of the package to provide a direct thermal and electrical path from the integrated circuit to the printed circuit board.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/925,835,filed on Aug. 7, 2001, which is a continuation application of prior U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/274,430, filed on Mar. 22, 1999, issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,362, which is a continuation application of priorU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/959,546, filed on Oct. 24, 1997,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,410, which is a continuation applicationof prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/623,355, filed Mar. 28,1996, abandoned, entitled “PERIMETER MATRIX BALL GRID ARRAY CIRCUITPACKAGE WITH A POPULATED CENTER.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package.

2. Description of Related Art

Integrated circuits are typically mounted to a package that is solderedto a printed circuit board. One such type of integrated circuit packageis a ball grid array (“BGA”) package. BGA packages have a plurality ofsolder balls located on a bottom external surface of a packagesubstrate. The solder balls are reflowed to attach the package to theprinted circuit board. The integrated circuit is mounted to a topsurface of the package substrate, and electrically coupled to the solderballs by internal routing within the package.

FIG. 1 shows a solder ball array of a prior art BGA package 2. Thesolder balls 4 are arranged in a two-dimensional pattern across thebottom surface of the package. The integrated circuit 6 is centrallylocated on the opposite side of the package 2. The package 2 istypically constructed from a material which has a coefficient of thermalexpansion that is different than the thermal expansion coefficient ofthe integrated circuit. It has been found that the differential thermalexpansion between the integrated circuit and the package will inducetemperature related stresses that fail solder joints in an area whichcorresponds to the outer edges of the circuit die.

FIG. 2 shows a BGA package 2 of the prior art which has an outer twodimensional array of solder balls 4. The solder balls 4 are located awayfrom the package area that is beneath the integrated circuit 6. Locatingthe solder balls 4 away from the integrated circuit 6 reduces thethermal stresses on the solder joints created by the differentialexpansion between the package and the integrated circuit. Althougheffective in reducing solder failure the outer array pattern limits theinput/output (I/O) of the package. Additionally, the integrated circuitgenerates heat which conducts through the solder balls and into theprinted circuit board. Locating the solder balls at the outer perimeterof the package increases the thermal path through the package substrate.The longer path increases the thermal impedance of the package and thejunction temperature of the integrated circuit. It would be desirableprovide a BGA package that has a longer product life, lower thermalimpedance and higher I/O than BGA packages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a ball grid array (“BGA”) integrated circuitpackage which has an outer two-dimensional array of solder balls and acenter two-dimensional array of solder balls located on a bottom surfaceof a package substrate. The solder balls are typically reflowed to mountthe package to a printed circuit board. Mounted to an opposite surfaceof the substrate is an integrated circuit that is electrically coupledto the solder balls by internal routing within the package. The outerarray of solder balls are located outside the dimensional profile of theintegrated circuit to reduce solder stresses induced by the differentialthermal expansion between the integrated circuit and the substrate. Thecenter solder balls are typically routed directly to ground and powerpads of the package to provide a direct thermal and electrical path fromthe integrated circuit to the printed circuit board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become morereadily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewingthe following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a ball grid array integrated circuit packageof the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a ball grid array integrated circuit packageof the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of a ball grid array package ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the package shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of an alternate ball grid array package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, FIGS.3 and 4 show a ball grid array (“BGA”) integrated circuit package 10 ofthe present invention. The package 10 includes a substrate 12 that has atop surface 14 and an opposite bottom surface 16. Mounted to the topsurface 14 of the substrate 12 is an integrated circuit 18. Theintegrated circuit 18 is typically a microprocessor. Although amicroprocessor is described, it is to be understood that the package 10may contain any electrical device(s).

The top surface 14 of the substrate 12 has a plurality of bond pads 20and a ground bus 22. The substrate 12 may also have a separate power bus23 concentrically located about the integrated circuit 18 and ground pad22. The integrated circuit 18 is coupled to the bond pads 20 and busses22 and 23 by bond wires 24. The integrated circuit 18 is typicallyenclosed by an encapsulant 26. Although bond wires 24 are shown anddescribed, the integrated circuit 18 can be mounted and coupled to thesubstrate with solder balls located on the bottom surface of the circuitdie in a package and process commonly referred to as “C4” or “flip chip”packaging.

The bottom surface 16 of the substrate 12 has a plurality of contactpads 28. The contact pads 28 are coupled to the bond pads 20 and busses22 and 23 by vias 30 and internal routing 32 within the substrate 12.The substrate can be constructed with conventional printed circuitboard, or co-fired ceramic, packaging processes known in the art.

A plurality of solder balls 34 are attached to the contact pads 28 withknown ball grid array processes. The solder balls 34 are typicallyreflowed to attach the package 10 to a printed circuit board (notshown).

The contact pads 28 are arranged in an outer two-dimensional array 36and a center two-dimensional array 38. Each array contains a pluralityof contact pads 28 that are separated from each other by a number ofdielectric spaces 40. The outer array 36 is separated from the centerarray 38 by a dielectric area 42. The outer array 36 is preferablylocated outside of the outer dimensional profile of the integratedcircuit 18. In this manner the solder joints of the outer array 36 arenot subjected to stresses created by the difference in the coefficientof thermal expansion of the integrated circuit 18 and the expansioncoefficient of the substrate 12. The center array 38 is located near theorigin of the integrated circuit 18 in an area that does not undergo asmuch thermal expansion as the outer edges of the circuit die. Thereforethe solder stresses created by the differential thermal expansion isminimal in the area of the center array 38. The separated arrays providea pattern that minimizes the stresses on the solder joints.

The outer array 36 is typically coupled to the signal lines of theintegrated circuit 18. The center array 38 is preferably coupled to theground bus 22 and power bus 23 of the substrate 12. The vias 30 thatcouple the busses 22 and 23 to the center contact pads 38 provide adirect thermal path through the substrate. The direct path lowers thethermal impedance of the package 10 and the junction temperature of theintegrated circuit 18. Additionally, the short electrical path lowersthe self-inductance and reduces the switching noise of the integratedcircuit 18.

In the preferred embodiment, the package 10 contains 292 contact pads 28on a 27 by 27 millimeter (mm) wide substrate 12, or 352 contact pads 28on a 35 by 35 mm substrate 12. The dielectric space 40 between thecontact pads 28 is typically 1.27 mm. The package 10 typically has aheight of approximately 2.5 mm.

The package 10 is assembled by attaching the solder balls 34 to thecontact pads 28. The integrated circuit 18 is mounted and coupled to thesubstrate 12. The integrated circuit 18 is then enclosed by theencapsulant 26. The BGA package 10 is typically shipped to an end userthat mounts the package 10 to a printed circuit board by reflowing thesolder balls 34.

FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of a package 10′ which has five orsix rows of contact pads 28 in the outer array 36′ of the substrate 12′.The additional pads 28 increase the input/output (I/O) of the package10′. The outer array 36′ is preferably outside the outer dimensionalprofile of the integrated circuit 18 to minimize the stresses on thesolder joints. The package 10′ may provide 324 contact pads 28 on a 27by 27 mm substrate 10. The longer rows of the package 10′ provide theapproximate I/O of a 35 by 35 mm package, within the footprint of a 27by 27 mm package.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments aremerely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, andthat this invention not be limited to the specific constructions andarrangements shown and described, since various other modifications mayoccur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

1-16. (canceled)
 2. A semiconductor package, comprising: a substratethat includes a top surface and an exposed external opposite surfaceincluding an inner region, an outer region, and a middle region thatseparates the inner and outer regions; a plurality of contractsincluding a first plurality of contacts and a second plurality ofcontacts, said first plurality of contacts located in the outer region,and said second plurality of contacts located in the inner region,wherein the middle region is free of contacts over a distance that islarger than the smallest distances between adjacent contacts in theinner and outer regions; and an integrated circuit that is mounted tosaid top surface of said substrate, wherein said first and secondplurality of contacts are located respectively outside and inside adimensional profile of said integrated circuit.
 18. The semiconductorpackage of claim 17, wherein the distances between adjacent contacts inthe inner region are equal to the distances between adjacent contacts inthe outer region.
 19. The semiconductor package of claim 17, furthercomprising a plurality of electrically conductive members attached tosaid plurality of contacts of said first and second plurality ofcontacts.
 20. The semiconductor package of claim 17, wherein said topsurface of said substrate has a ground bus that is coupled to saidintegrated circuit and connected to said second plurality of contacts bya plurality of vias that extend through said substrate.
 21. Thesemiconductor package of claim 17, wherein said top surface of saidsubstrate has a power bus that is coupled to said integrated circuit andconnected to said second plurality of contacts by a plurality of viasthat extend through said substrate.
 22. The semiconductor package ofclaim 17, further comprising an encapsulant enclosing said integratedcircuit.